meyers



H. MEYERS.

FILM WINDER FOR CAMERAS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 15.1919.

Patented Dec SHEET 1.

2 SHEETS- INVENTOR W mk- ATTORNEY FILM WINDER FOR CAMERAS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 15,!919.

H MEYER S.

Patented Dec. 16, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- Fig.6.

g6 15 INVENTOR MMMW fil 57 GKWMM A TTORNE Y8.

HERMAN MEYERS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

FILM-WINDEB FOR CAMERAS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 16 1919.

Application filed July 15, 1919. Serial No. 311,048.

To all whom it may 0011061 11 Be it known that I, HERMAN MnYERs, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in FilmlVinders for Cameras, of which the following is a specification.

The object of the invention is to provide a compact and eflicient mechanism for spoolfilm cameras by means of which the film can be automatically advanced after each exposure by touching a button or trigger, and which is capable of being applied to or built in ordinary cameras. To this end the invention may be said to comprise the parts, improvements and combinations hereinafter described and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

A preferred illustrative embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a cross-section through a folding camera, taken near one side, showing a spring film-winder and parts associated therewith;

Fig. 2 is a section taken beneath the top of the camera, on the line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section in an axial plane of the winder;

Fig. 4 is an enlargement of a portion of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged section on the line 55 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 6 is a view looking in at the back of the camera with the back cover removed, and with a portion broken away and in section.

Referring to the box of the camera illustrated in the drawings, 1 is the front, 2 a removable back, 3 the top, 1 the bottom, and 5, 6 the sides. The particular form and construction of the box and its usual working parts are immaterial. The film 7 is run wound from a spool 8 at one side onto a spool 9 at the other. The winding spool is engaged at its lower end by a spring-pressed, retractible spindle 10, and at the top by a winder-blade 11,- in a manner that will be understood.

The winder-blade projects from a flat spring-barrel or case 12, having fixed and rotary portions. The fixed portion, in this instance, comprises a wide and shallow cup 13 set into a hole in the top of the box, where it is secured in countersunk position by offset flanges 14 screwed to the box. The rotary part includes a gear-disk 15 grooved to receive the rim of the circular flange of the stationary cup, the projecting blade 11, a hub 16 in the interior of the case and rotatable in an opening in the transverse outer wall of the cup, and a retaining plate 17, screwed to the end of the hub and lying in the countersunk depression. A folding crank-handle 18 is pivoted to the retaining plate, for winding up the spring. The spring 19 is housed within the barrel, with one end 20 hooked to the fixed part, as seen in Fig. 2, and the other end secured to the rotatable hub 16. y

Peripheral teeth on the gear-disk 15 mesh with the teeth of a gear 21 on a long narrow screw 22, the ends of which latter are ournaled in suitable bearings in the top and bottom of the box. The screw constitutes a member connected with the winder and presenting a spiral path.

Associated with the screw are a series of varyingly spaced stops and a cooperative stop movable by and along the screw. The stops in series are shown as transverse pins 23, 23", 23 fixed in the screw, with their ends lying in and below the top of the spiral groove (see Fig. 5); while the cooperative stop 24: is carried by a slide 25 movable longitudinally in a slideway bar 26, the stop 2% projecting into the groove far enough to contact with the stops 23, 23 23 Means are provided for disengaging the detent mechanism which has been described, in order that the stop 24 may be released from one of the stops 23, 23 23 to pass to the next. In the construction shown the slideway bar 26 is mounted so as to be capable of moving laterally toward and from the screw. To this end the bar is pivotally secured to spaced parallel links 27 fulcrumed on fixed brackets 28, and having pivotal engagement with an operating rod 29,, which is operated by a release button 30 through a lever 31 pivotally secured to the rod and fulcrumed on a bracket 32. Said button is conveniently located on the top of the camera and preferably beneath the flexible covering material 33. The ends 34 of the slideway bar are afforded guiding support in slotted blocks 35, 35 one of which is shown in section and the other in elevation in Fig. 1. Bow springs 36 yieldingly sustain the bar in its forward position, nearest the screw, and restore it after it has been retracted by pressure upon the button acting through the linkage described.

The stops 23, of which there will be as many as there are exposures in the film, are spaced apart along the length of the spiral path at diminishing distances, these distances being calculated to cause the winder to rot-ate by decreasing amounts such as to advance the film strip the distance of one exposure at each operation.

The initial stop 23" acts as a detent to hold the winder when the spring has been wound up for a fresh film strip. The distance between this stop and the first of the exposure stops 23 should be calculated according to the length of the plain black-paper tab at the leading end of the strip. Correspondingly the distance from the last of the exposure stops 23 to the final stop 23 should be sufiicient to allow of the winding up of the terminal tab. This latter stop might be omitted and the slide 25 allowed to come against the block 35 when the film strip is all wound up, but in that event there would be greater strain upon the stop The stop 24 is constructed to abut rigidly against the stops 23, 23 23 in the operating direction, and to latch past them in the reverse direction. For this purpose the said stop is knife-jointed to the slide 25 at 37 and pressed by a spring 38, so as to be capable of flexing to the left in Fig. 5, while rigid 1n the opposite sense. The extremities of the stops are also preferably beveled to facilitate the latching action. Since the spiral groove of the screw is deeper than the stops therein, the cooperative stop 24 is not disengaged from the groove when it latches by the pin stops; nor does it lose the groove when the bar 26 is retracted in order to permit the stops 23, 23, 23 to escape, one at a time, from the detent stop 24, when pictures are being taken.

Single action means are also provided, in the connections between the button 30 and the escapement whereby the film strip will be advanced only one step when the button is pressed, irrespective of whether the finger is held on the button or not. In the illustrated construction, the portion of the stem 39 of the button which projects inward through a suitable hole in the wall of the box is formed with a lateral V-pointed nose 40, behind which is a notch 41. Cooperating with the said nose and notch is a knifejointed V-end tip 42 on the lever 31, the said tip being pressed by a spring 43 and arranged to yield to the right in Fig. 6 and to be rigid against pressure in the opposite direction. Consequently, when the button ispushed in, against the action of its restoring spring 44, the nose 40 acting upon the tip 42 swings the lever, thereby retracting the slideway bar 26, until the stop 24 is withdrawn so as to clear the extremity of the stop 23 or 23 on the screw against which it may be resting at the moment. The screw then commences to turn; and at substantially this moment the ridge of the nose 4O slips past the ridge of the tip 42, and the springs 36 are then free to restorc the bar 26 to its normal position, thus projecting the stop 24 so as to encounter the next stop 23 or 23 on the screw. The tip 42 after slipping ofi the nose is accommodated in the. notch 41. When the finger pressure is removed from the button and the latter is moved out-ward by its spring, the tip 42 yields upon its pivot until the relations are such that it can snap back to its normal position in front of the nose.

The operation has been in large measure explained in connection with the description of the mechanism. lVhen a new film is put in the camera, the film-winder spring is wound up by means of the handle 18. At the beginning of this operation, the stop 24 is at the extremity of its travel, that is to say against the stop 23 at the left-hand of Fig. 1. As the rotary part of the barrel is turned backward to tension the spring 20, the screw 22 is also rotated in the reverse direction, and this propels the member 24 toward the opposite end of the screw, its slide 25 traveling along in the slideway bar 26. As the traveling stop encounters the stops 23 and 23 it latches idly past them in the manner already described. When the traveling stop passes the initial stop 23 the winding of the spring is complete; and thereafter the abutment of the stop 24 in its rigid direction against said stop 23 holds the spring against unwinding until such time as the release button 30 is actuated. The fresh spool of film is placed in position at the unwinding side of the camera, and the blaclcpaper tab is pulled out and its extremity is inserted in the cleft of the winding spool, wherein it is Wrapped sutliciently to hold, beingpreferably wrapped up to a mark on the tab, or a certain number of turns in accordance with instructions. The winding spool is inserted into its place, and the camera is closed. Now, when the button 30 1s pressed, the slideway bar 26, and with it the slide 25 and stop 24 are retracted, in the manner heretofore explained, so that the stop 23 escapes from the stop 24. The film-winder is then turned by the spring so as to wind up on the film strip, and the screw 22 is also revolved through the gearing 15, 21. In so doing the screw drives the stop 24, after the manner of a nut free to move lengthwise but held against rotation, until the said stop abuts rigidly against the first of the stops 23, having been meanwhile restored to in tercepting position by the springs 36 and by virtue of the single action means heretofore described. At this time a portion of the sensitized film is behind the lens, in position for taking the first picture. When the first exposure has been made, the button is operated again and immediately the same operations are repeated, except that this time the stop 24 travels a distance corresponding to the length of an exposure section of the film. At each of the subsequent operations the stop 24 travels a shorter and shorter distance, and the film-winder and spool rotate by lesser and lesser degrees, as the diameter of the roll increases, but the film is always advanced equal distances, that is to say the distance which removes the exposed film section and brings the succeeding fresh section behind the lens. This is true up to the last of the stops 23. At the next operation the tab at the rear end of the strip is wound up.

This completes a description of the construction and operation of the present preferred embodiment of the invention. I am aware that numerous other, apparently different forms may be devised, and that many changes may be made; and do not therefore limit myself to the particular construction illustrated or to the proportions, forms and relative arrangements therein shown.

What is claimed as new is:

1. In a camera, a film-Winder, an actuating spring, and means for causing the winder to advance the film desired distances comprising a rotary elongated screw connected with the winder, a guide parallel with the screw, a series of stops unequally spaced, and a part movable rectilinearly on the guide by and along the screw to coact with said series of stops.

2. In a camera, a film-winder, an actuating spring, and means for causing the winder to advance the film desired distances comprising a rotary elongated screw connected with the winder, a series of stops unequally spaced, and a part movable rectilinearly by and along the screw to coact with said series of stops, said part being flexible in one direction and rigid in the other.

3. In a camera, a film-winder, an actuating spring, and means for causing the winder to advance the film desired distances comprising a rotary screw connected with the winder and carrying a series of stops unequally spaced, a slideway, and a slide thereon carrying a cooperative stop tracking the thread of the screw.

4. In a camera, a film-winder, an actuating spring, and" means for causing the winder to advance the film desired distances comprising a rotary screw connected with the winder and carrying a series of stops, unequally spaced, a movable slideway, a slide thereon carrying a cooperative stop tracking the thread of the screw, and a release means operative upon the slide.

5. In a camera, a film-winder, an actuating spring, and means for causing the winder to advance the film desired distances comprising a rotary screw connected with the winder and carrying a series of stops, unequally spaced, a transversely movable slideway, a slide thereon carrying a cooperative stop tracking the thread of the screw, a release-button and connections operable thereby for retracting the slide, and a spring for restoring the same.

6. In a camera, a film-winder, an actuating spring and means for causing the winder to advance the film desired distances comprising a rotary screw connected with the winder and carrying a series of stops unequally spaced, a movable slideway, a slide movable thereon, a cooperative stop carried by the slide and tracking the thread of the screw, said cooperative stop being flexible in one direction and rigid in the other, and a release means operative to move the slide.

HERMAN MEYERS. 

